How to lose any election

Last week, several of my classmates and I had the honor of attending the Florida Nursing Students Association (FNSA) annual convention in Daytona. I served as a Delegate which means I had to be present at the business meetings.

For some reason, I was talked into running for a spot as Corresponding Secretary on the FNSA board. I had one person as my competition and erroneously felt that I had a 50/50 shot at victory. That’s when it occurred to me that I was making a big decision and I did not bother to run it by my husband! I couldn’t back out, but I was terrified that I’d win while wanting nothing more than to win. Lucky for me, I didn’t.

Following are several tips on how to effectively lose an election:

1). Enter the race late.

The serious candidates who took the time to mull over a run for office were pre-slated a month ago. When I threw my hat in the ring, I had 6 hours to prepare for the meet-and-greet Friday evening. Voting was Saturday at 7 am.

2). Do little to no campaigning.

I spent an hour or so throwing together a Power Point presentation on my laptop. It was nice and professional, but the title was “Why Me?” which, perhaps, did not reveal the level of enthusiasm I was feeling at the time.

I also wanted to print handouts, but the free hotel printer was not working when I attempted to print them. After experiencing a small “fit” of frustration, my instructor escorted me to the “not free” business center where we had to pay $7 to obtain the handouts. Then we went to dinner. I did not campaign at all until the candidate presentations began at 7 pm.

3). Disagree with a current board member.

After I set up my laptop to loop the Power Point, a board member asked where my poster was. I told her I did not need a poster because I had a laptop. She said I did. I said, “Where does it say in the bylaws that I need to have a poster?” When she found a handbook, it turned out that the poster was “suggested” and not “necessary.” Score one for me at my expense.

4). Lack a clear understanding of the position desired.

Imagine my disappointment when I learned that my idea to revamp the website and Facebook page were outside the parameters of Corresponding Secretary. I could have sworn I read it somewhere, but when it was pointed out in the handbook that this was not so, I lost a little credibility.

5). Abandon your prewritten speech.

I’m not sure what happened when I got onstage in front of all those people, but I do know that I did not trust my ability to read my prepared speech. I made a joke about not falling on the way up the stairs and then sounded desperate for 45 seconds. Everyone said it was a good speech, but I could see the lie in their eyes.

6). Talk up your opponent.

My competition was a very nice person and I did not hesitate to tell people this. I’d like to think that I was her “pseudo-campaign manager” and that she won, in part, due to my influence.

That is how I lost my shot at the FNSA Corresponding Secretary position. I did sign up for the communications committee which assists with website and social media outreach. In the end, I feel like I won.